“I actually really enjoyed playing”
Royal Blood have spoken out after criticising their audience at BBC Radio One’s Big Weekend last month.
The Brighton duo — comprised of Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher — made headlines last month after their set in Dundee, when the frontman criticised the crowd for not engaging enough with their set, before eventually throwing down his guitar and walking off the stage holding his middle finger to the audience.
The show took place at Camperdown Park in Dundee as part of Radio One’s annual festival on May 28, and Kerr’s visible frustration with the crowd escalated as the set progressed.
Royal Blood making their feelings known about the crowd at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend yesterday 😂
— The Rock Revival (@TheRockRevival_) May 29, 2023
“Who likes rock music?” he asked the crowd, only receiving a small cheer. “Nine people. Brilliant,” he remarked before introducing Thatcher.
Later in the set, Kerr remarked, “We’re having to clap ourselves because that was so pathetic,” before turning to the camera and asking: “Will you clap for us? Will you clap? You’re busy. Can you clap? Yes, even he’s clapping. What does that say about you?”
At the end of their performance, Kerr walked off stage throwing up his middle fingers to the audience while Thatcher appeared to be gesturing to the front rows to smile.
Now, following the moment going viral on social media, the band have spoken for the first time following the performance, and explained their attitude towards the gig.
“I’m amazed, honestly, how that escalated to that kind of size,” Kerr began, talking with BBC Radio One. “Walking off from that show, I felt I was being entertaining — in a way of trying to make light of the situation. I was doing a performance where I felt a little bit out of place.”
“It was somewhat of a blip on my part because it would’ve taken me three minutes to think ‘Maybe these people don’t know who you are’,” he continued. “I actually really enjoyed playing! I had a great time. The ending, to me, I felt like a sort of pro-wrestler… I felt like a kind of pantomime villain! I didn’t feel like I’d done anything, sort of, morally wrong. I felt like a bit of a wind-up, honestly. That’s how I felt.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the frontman also explained that the response came from that feeling of “energy” of being onstage, and clarified that he is almost unrecognisable on stage in comparison to in everyday life.
“When I’m in that zone, there’s a part of my personality which only exists on stage. I can’t find any other context in which I’m that energised,” he said. “I feel like I look different when I’m on stage. When I’m offstage I’m very quiet and quite awkward, whereas onstage, I don’t know […] it’s very easy to get swept up in that energy. Honestly, it’s quite fun, and I don’t mean any offence. My intention isn’t to kind of alienate anyone or push anyone away.”
.@RoyalBloodUK came into Radio 1 to have an honest chat with @GregJames about the performance which started a thousand memes.
Were they being rude, was it all a joke, and how do they feel after being an international talking point for days on end? pic.twitter.com/MxoEVAVbkn
— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) June 5, 2023
Wrapping up the interview, the band acknowledged some of the memes arising online following the set, and Kerr spoke directly to the Dundee crowd, stating: “My message is that I meant no offence. We look forward to coming back and applause is optional.”
Back in May, Royal Blood announced their fourth album, ‘Back To The Water Below’ and released lead single, ‘Mountains At Midnight’. The album is due for release on September 8.
Speaking to NME ahead of the release of ‘Typhoons’, Kerr said that “a record should make you a better person at the end of it, or at least that it could,” after writing the record about his battles with alcohol. Having since completed a full album cycle and tour while completely sober, the frontman last month explained his current mindset.
“We got to go on tour and that process of going back out on the road was what really brought us back to life,” he said. “The mantra for the band has always been that playing live is the reason we exist. It’s about the thrill of playing in front of people. We’re in rehearsal at the minute, and there are some songs that just don’t make sense without an audience. We really feed off that energy. It was beginning to remind and inform us of where to go next.”
Speaking of the current experience of touring sober, he added: “It’s like doing it in HD. I came off the back of that tour not physically and mentally destroyed. I left that tour feeling like it was a sustainable thing that I can do now.
“I knew I was in it for the long game now, which was a really good feeling. Before, I really questioned how much longer I could do this. Touring is tough on the mind and body as it is.”
As well as opening for Muse at their upcoming stadium shows and performing at Glastonbury, they will be playing many other festivals this summer before embarking on a headline tour in October. The headline tour begins on October 20 at Manchester’s O2 Apollo, running for 10 days and finishing in Dublin at the Olympia Theatre.
Tickets to the show are on sale now and are available here.
